(Y/N), you are a brain-dead idiot of the highest calibre!

I had lost both Luffy and Deuce.

Was it my fault? Most likely. I hadn't exactly been able to focus on the pair whilst trying to fight my way through thickening droves of Marines, a symphony of gunshots and clanging steel near deafening, so if they had called out to me I certainly hadn't heard it.

My body was aching something fierce. There were only so many deceased fighters I could call upon, and I had to save my best for what was to come, so I was suffering with percentages of whatever blows my weaker spectres had fallen to. I knew with certainty a few bones were already broken, and the coppery tang of blood pooling in my mouth had me praying I hadn't gone and gotten any kind of internal bleeding on top of all the visible cuts and gashes littering my skin.

I uttered a sharp curse as I had to suddenly jump over a falling comrade, haphazardly swinging the Navy-issued sword I had picked up at a white-clad man who was likely no more than a cadet, slicing him across the sternum and not bothering to look back when I heard him hit the icy ground.

The closer I got, the more I had to stop and fight, and having Ace so tauntingly close was becoming such a distraction. I could almost clearly make out his features now, and he was distraught; emotionally wounded by what he was being forced to watch. His brothers, risking their lives for his. I could only imagine what that would do to his already fragile psyche.

"Oh my god, can you all just fuck off already?!" I screeched as I skidded to a halt, right before I hurdled right into a barricade of three officers. One of them held up a hand that was meant to soothe me, as though I was some untamed animal that had just escaped confinement. I honestly felt like I was.
"Easy, lady. I don't want to have to hurt you. Just-"

"You're gonna have to!" Man, was I glad for my training back in the gladiator ring in Dressrosa, but I was only human. My stamina was fading rapidly, and my moves were growing sloppy. It still didn't fare well for the moron who had tried to disarm me, as I plunged my sword so deep between his ribs that I just couldn't reef it back out again.

I used his collapsing body to kick myself back a few feet, barely able to keep my footing when I landed on the slick ice. Now without a weapon, I raised my fists in preparation as the other two advanced towards me, muskets raised. I had brought a sword to a gun-fight, and now I was down to my bare hands. I prayed Ace wasn't watching this, because there was a fair chance I was about to end up with a few extra holes.

Just as I was losing hope, a boulder, or perhaps a cannonball in a lovely shade of blue swept right on through the pair from the side, knocking their bodies, along with their weapons, flying. I blinked a few times when the seemingly sentient cannonball stopped in its tracks, taking a few steps towards me.
"Are you alright, young lady?"

Oh. It's not a cannonball.

How could I have not recognised Jinbe, First Son of the Sea? In my defence, he had been moving rather quickly, and he was most definitely a spherical gentleman, not to mention that I was completely and utterly exhausted.
"Still alive...thanks to you..." I heaved a guttural sigh of relief as I planted my hands on my knees, taking a few deep, ragged breaths.

I wasn't just exhausted, but overstimulated as well. The constant sounds of screaming, gunshots, flesh tearing, swords clashing, and the ever-moving sea of white and varying colours all around me were getting to me something fierce. I just wanted Ace. Why couldn't I just get to my Ace?

"You need to fall back, Miss." Jinbe urged, taking a polite step aside as I straightened up and walked past to collect the musket and sword from the one Marine I had managed to take down. "You're on your last legs."

He's right, but...

"Thanks for the advice, but I'm not retreating." I fastened the musket to my belt, already hating the way it fell against my outer leg. "Not when my husband's head is on the chopping block." A sudden look of realisation flashed across Jinbe's face before he whipped his head from side to side, rushing over to me to hunch closer to my level.

"You mustn't say that so freely, (Y/N)." He warned, and I narrowed my eyes to slits. He knew my name? Seemingly picking up on my scepticism, he decided to clarify. "I was a cell mate of Ace's in Impel Down. He spoke of you often. He would not wish for you to throw yourself into harms way like this."

Gritting my teeth, I started to rush off, only for him to follow closely behind me.
"If it were up to him then none of us would be here, so that's no reason for me to back down." It pained me to say it, but it was the truth. Ace wasn't suicidal, not by any stretch of the imagination, but he wasn't all for preserving his life either. Especially if it meant anyone making any form of sacrifice for his sake.

Glancing upwards, towards the executioner's platform, I could see it in his face; his eyes that painfully stared across the reddening sea of red that Marineford had become. This was its own form of torture for him, and I knew it would take a long time for him to recover from it. I'd be there, though. Every step of the way, once we were out of here.

"I cannot stop you, but please, for his sake, reconsider. You and his brother are the only two things that have kept him going this long." Jinbe revealed, and I feared to think what he had said, regarding myself and everybody else. Did he harbour unwarranted guilt? He was certainly the type to, but that just made me more determined to reach him.
"Speaking of Luffy, you should back him up. He has a better chance at making it than the rest of us combined."

Realising I was a lost cause, Jinbe resigned, veering off to do as I had suggested. I hoped I was right, and that Luffy was closer than I was. He had the strength, and the guts, and it seemed as though he also had quite the team behind him, however bizarre. I had to put my faith in him and keep pressing on.

Everything was a blur. The bodies, the blades, the bullets violently peppering the ground around my feet, sending near microscopic chips of ice piercing at my ankles and reminding me that I was still, in fact, in the land of the living. My sweat felt like it was made of lead, weighing my body down even more as I ripped my way through the opposition, words devolving into broken grunts and screams with each twist and swing.

"IT HAS COME TO OUR ATTENTION THAT ANOTHER THREAT HAS MADE ITSELF KNOWN!"

Hearing the Fleet Admiral's voice blare through the amplification snails, I didn't falter, pushing through the searing pain in my muscles and lungs, inching closer to Ace. Bit by bit.

"FIRE FIST ACE'S WIFE IS PRESENT UPON THE BATTLEFIELD! SHE MUST BE APPREHENDED AT ALL COSTS, DEAD OR ALIVE! WE CANNOT RISK THE BLOODLINE OF GOL. D. ROGER TO CONTINUE!"

That part did make me stumble. As Sengoku began to describe my appearance, as it was currently, I began to panic just that much more. Roger's bloodline? Did he think that I was carrying Ace's child? As his wife, that was always a possibility to them, and I recalled a similar order being made prior to his own birth, which had lead to the premature death of his mother. The Navy truly were monsters.

"THERE SHE IS! SURROUND HER!"

I stopped dead when I heard that commanding shout, bracing myself for what could likely become my final battle. A dozen, maybe more, Marine officers fell into place around me, almost a perfect circle, weapons drawn and awaiting their orders, like obedient little mongrels.

I was so tired. My legs shook beneath my weight as I held my sword, and it quivered in my white-knuckled hand as I stood my ground, waiting, watching, listening for any kind of movement that would signal the start of my own attempted execution. I'd have to use my Devil Fruit for sure this time, but that would mean my chances of getting any closer to Ace would be slim to none.

"GET AWAY FROM HER! SHE ISN'T CARRYING MY CHILD! JUST KILL ME NOW AND LET HER LIVE!" Ace's anguished pleas rained down on me in a fire hotter than his devil fruit could have ever hoped to burn, but I didn't dare turn to look up at him. Not only because I had to keep my eyes upon my assailants, but also because I knew exactly what expression he wore.

Swallowing my fears, and my pains, I widened my stance, readjusting my grip on the cutlass-styled sword I wielded. I could do this. I had no choice in the matter. A life was on the line, and it was the most important one to have ever waltzed into my life, gifting me with not only an unparagoned love, but two unrivalled brothers, a sea of opportunities, and a will to keep on living.

Here we fucking go...

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***I'm just going to do my own spin on Marineford, because honestly, I'm sick of rewatching at a snails pace and doing things scene for scene.

Next Time: Ring Around The Ruthless***